Morph and Sex Questions..

[usafvet98]

Hey Everyone,
I had a couple of questions. First, My Beardie "Cutie-Pie" is now about 13", he has grown to this size since mid december when he was purchased at petsmart at around 5 inches so I would think hes growing at a standard rate?

Now my questions are one, I have a picture ill post below of his undercarriage.... Is it possible one of you will be able to tell if he is in deed a male? From what I read, it seems that way to me but I wouldnt be surprised if I were completely wrong lol.

Next, im posting a few pictures of him to show his coloring and shape and all. Any way of telling what morph or type of beardie he is? I have to say he is a joy to be around and has a better personality than most humans I have met but the worst thing about purchasing him at a big box store like petsmart, I have no information on him which really stinks. If I knew then what I know now, I would have went through a breeder, however; I cant complain as hes the best pet I ever had..

Here are some pictures..

Thanks in Advance
Brian

 

[RandyMarsh]

can you give us a closer up picture of his under-side? That first one is a bit blurry so i hesitate to guess the sex

 

[usafvet98]

Will be happy to when he wakes up in the morning. He gets cranky when I wake him or her..... You know he really doesnt mind me checking either.. Such a cool Species! I did just post in the Vivs section pictures of his home..

 

[bdalton]

Agreed, it's not close enough to tell for sure. Put him in your palm and lift his tail up, gently.

He doesn't look like any morph, but more of a nice colored normal. Without knowing what the parents are and genetics, it's impossible to tell exactly, but most petsmart beardies are normals. Dont get me wrong, normals can still be colorful and sometimes look like a certain "morph", but all morph really means is the breeders term for that specific color. Usual colors are normal (usually grey, brown or tan w/ hints of black, yellow or orange) red, yellow, orange and white.
There are different types of beardies, which can be of any "morph/phase";
Normal-normal scales (they have the little "bumps" on their backs)
Leatherback-smooth back with reduced scales
Silk back-no scales, almost smooth "skin"

Then there are;
translucent-bred without white pigmentation usually giving them a bluish tint to their bellies and solid black eyes
Hypo(hypomelanistic)-bred without dark/black pigmentation so they have 20 clear nails and either lighter colored or bright since the colors are on solid white
Leucistic (like Randarsh's cutie Franklin) is a very light hypo and appear almost white.

Any of the first three types I listed can be either of the second I mentioned, or both, or you will hear the term "het" which means they carry the gene but don't always show the characteristics. It goes to percentages depending on the parents, but no need to get into all that




That's a small, basic summary, hope I didn't confuse you.
So, I would say your dragon is a very cute, nice colored normal. I've seen some normal dragons from petsmart turn out more vibrant than one from a breeder. The best part is, since you don't know the parents, you had NO idea what he will turn out like. They change so much as they grow and usually look nothing like they did as babies. Whatever color he is turning after each shed is the color that he will end up. Their colors come in more and more as they shed, and he looks like he's going to be a pretty orange. If you type in on the search bar on this site "petsmart beardies" , they have some pics of dragons from petsmart as babies and then as adults, and you will be surprised how much color you will see in some of them!

No matter what, he will be beautiful! or I guess I should say handsome!

 

[usafvet98]

Thanks, I appreciate all of the information. Being new at all of this I was under the impression that morph was a reptile term for breed, but now that you explained it, I know he has normal scales. A breeder mixes two breeds and creates a morph correct? Makes much more sense to me now. Very cool and interesting.. Thanks again.. ill post other under side pics tomorrow.

 

[RandyMarsh]

Thanks, I appreciate all of the information. Being new at all of this I was under the impression that morph was a reptile term for breed, but now that you explained it, I know he has normal scales. A breeder mixes two breeds and creates a morph correct? Makes much more sense to me now. Very cool and interesting.. Thanks again.. ill post other under side pics tomorrow.

Animal Husbandry IS interesting. Dragon varieties are cool. For example here's what mine looks like:

Marketed Leucistic

 

[bdalton]

Love him!